'Walking Dead' Showrunner Explains Why the Whisperers Are So Scary

Throughout the first half of The Walking Dead Season 9, viewers were teased with the official introduction of The Whisperers, villains from the comics who wear the skin of walkers to survive. In the midseason finale, the survivors officially crossed paths with this new enemy (rather than just hiding when they passed by), with tragic consequences.

It’s clear the Whisperers will be a major antagonist to the survivors in the second half of Season 9. Now, a new report reveals fresh details about the group’s leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) and explains why this new enemy is such a big threat.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9 below.

We’ve already seen the damage that one Whisperer can inflict in the midseason finale. Because the survivors had no idea what they were really dealing with (Eugene thought that the whispers he heard were caused by the walkers evolving) one Whisperer got the jump on Jesus and managed to kill him. Then, Just as Daryl, Aaron, Michonne, Eugene, Magna, and Yumiko realized the person who stabbed Jesus was a human wearing a walker mask, they found themselves surrounded.

Teasers, trailers, and posters have offered a look at Whisperer leader Alpha and her walker mask, but expect to see more than just how these villains put together their disguises when the second half of Season 9 begins.

Meet Alpha, the leader of The Whisperers on 'The Walking Dead'

In an interview with [Entertainment Weekly]((https://ew.com/tv/2019/01/09/walking-dead-alpha-samantha-morton-showrunner-angela-kang), showrunner Angela Kang teases what’s coming when Season 9 returns.

“We’ll get to know more about this group and their brutal survival of the fittest philosophy and how that really plays out in horrifying ways,” she said.

That includes learning more about Alpha and her second-in-command, Beta, played by Ryan Hurst and seen in the Season 9B trailer above.

“Part of the story will reveal — pretty early on in the back half of the season — the way that Alpha thinks and the way that she moves about the world,” Kang said “To put on the skin of a dead person and walk around in the world and walk around amidst walkers, that really takes a certain kind of person.”

Kang added that while the Whisperers might technically still be living humans, they’ve clearly lost some of their humanity in an attempt to survive.

“It really takes a pretty brutal philosophy to believe that it’s not even worth trying to be something that approximates human in the way that we think of it,” she said.

The Whisperers’ way of thinking is in direct conflict with the world the survivors are trying to build right now. While the survivors want something as close to civilization as possible, “this group just doesn’t even think any of that is worth preserving,” Kang said. “It’s something that’s really dangerous for our people to grapple with.”

We get it. No one likes the cord anymore but that's no reason you should pay hundreds of dollars for your earbuds. These Touchwave True Wireless Earbuds feature noise cancelling, sweat reistance and up to 12 hours of music for under $40 dollars.

Furthermore, don’t expect any communication between the two groups to be reminiscent of anything from seasons’ past.

“They’re not a group that can be reasoned with in some of the same ways that other villains have been that they’ve encountered in the past,” Kang said.

Here’s what we do know: Things are about to get very brutal for the survivors now that the Whisperers have arrived. If the television series adapts one of the comics’ storylines, it’s possible that several characters’ heads (not necessarily the same ones as on the pages) could end up on spikes soon.

The Walking Dead Season 9 returns on Sunday, February 10 at 9 p.m. on AMC.